The KMM Blog features true crime writer Robert A. Waters’ analysis of cold unsolved cases and commentary about modern and historical crimes. Kidnapping. Murder. Mayhem. They're as old as human history, and as fascinating.

Monday, October 13, 2014

Kelli O’Laughlin’s Killer is Sentenced

Is it enough?by
Robert A. WatersIn
March, 2011, Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation to abolish the death penalty
in Illinois.Six months later,
14-year-old Kelli O’Laughlin was executed at the hands of a sadistic burglar. Many
in the Land of Lincoln felt her killer deserved death, and that Quinn’s actions
betrayed Kelli and other innocent victims.John
Wilson, Jr. had served 17 of the past 20 years in prison.His lengthy record included convictions for robbery,
burglary, assault, drug charges, and other crimes.Unlike many prisoners, he had no redeeming
qualities.Kelli
came home from school at around 3:30 p.m. on October 27, 2011.The LaGrange
Patch reported that “Wilson broke into the rear of the home on the 6300
block of Keokuk Avenue by putting a rock in a knit cap and hurling it through
the dining room window.After he was
confronted by O’Laughlin, authorities say Wilson used a butcher knife from a cutlery
block in the family’s kitchen to stab her repeatedly in the back, neck and
chest. He then dragged her body from the
family room into the kitchen.”Kelli
died a horrific, bloody death.After Wilson
stole Kelli’s smartphone and a coin collection, he called a cab to take him
home.He used some of the stolen coins
to pay for his ride.Not
content to kill an innocent child, Wilson used Kelli’s cell phone to taunt the
O’Laughlin family.“Next time the bitch
will do as she’s told,” he wrote.Lawmen
used that very phone to track Wilson’s whereabouts, and the career criminal was
quickly apprehended.Among other items
of evidence, investigators found his DNA on the knitted cap left at the scene.With
no doubt of his guilt, Wilson should have faced the death penalty.But a storm of protest from various groups
who demanded the return of execution did no good.Instead, the unrepentant killer received 160
years in prison.As Wilson left the
courtroom, he loudly derided the O’Laughlin family.For
many, there is still a place for the death penalty in Illinois.Few
would argue that John Wayne Gacy, who tortured and murdered 38 men and boys in
Chicago, should not have been put to death.Had he not been caught, Gacy would no doubt have continued to kill.Andrew
Kokoraleis, executed for the 1987 ritualistic murder of Chicagoan Lorraine
Borowski, certainly deserved the ultimate punishment.Kokoraleis and a small cult-like group are
suspected of kidnapping up to 17 women and girls, brutally torturing them
before taking their lives.Instead
of dying for his crimes, John Wilson, Jr. will live his life.Instead
of living her life, Kelli O’Laughlin lies in her grave.